The Space of Time
by Bellatree
Summary: Many things change over the space of time: Situations, feelings, family, friends, and enemies. Do things change for the Baudelaires?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yay! New series! I've been working on this for quite a while now-perfecting it and what not-although it's not completely finished, but anyway, I hope you like it! If you review, please give me some constructive critisism, I won't be offended. If you have no criticism, that is also fine!**

**DISCLAIMER:** This is for the whole story, I own no characters etc..although the plot is mine...that I know of anyway.

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PART ONE: THE SPACE OF TIME **

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PROLOGUE**

She looked around, _good; there was no one there._ She motioned for the others to follow; they all hurriedly jumped on the train, and without delay moved towards the back.

_She_ was nineteen, her name was Violet Baudelaire, and the others following her were her siblings. Her brother Klaus, who was seventeen, and her sister Sunny, who was five.

It pains me to say that these three siblings had lead a terrible life, it was inconceivable the amount of pain and suffering that they'd had to go through.

You see; they were orphans. Their parents had died five years earlier in a terrible fire that destroyed their home.

I'm sorry their parents did not _die. _They were _murdered_; by an evil man named Count Olaf.

Count Olaf had schemed and plotted and planned many ways to get a hold of the enormous Baudelaire fortune, many of these plans-in fact all of them-were illegal in some way in some law, and involved such things as marriage, murdering, mountains, and much, much more.

Since that day, five years ago, the Baudelaire Orphans had been on the run from Count Olaf. Running with their lives.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny hadn't seen him for three years, but they knew he wasn't dead; every now and then, they would see an article in the newspaper, or something on the television; and they knew that it was the work of Count Olaf. Sometimes they would even see one of his associates secretly following them, but the Baudelaire Orphans were too smart, and could quickly lose them.

That is what they were doing now. Losing.

They'd stayed in a dirty old apartment for three weeks, until they saw one of Count Olaf's associates: the hook-handed man serving at a nearby restaurant. And they'd decided that it was time to move. They moved every so often, the longest they'd stayed at one hotel was just over two months. They never settled in at any town, they always had to change their names, and they never had a chance to rest, they couldn't make friends, they couldn't trust _anyone_, they were always on the lookout, they were always, always running.

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**CHAPTER ONE**

It was dark, and the carriage was deserted except for the three Baudelaire Orphans. They'd been on trains all day, switching three or four times, just to make sure that they weren't being followed.

"Sunny, wake up, we're here."

Violet picked up her little sister as she opened her eyes, and jumped off the train following Klaus, who was carrying a large green suitcase that held all their belongings inside.  
Klaus walked to a secluded dark spot on the platform, and put the suitcase down quietly.  
"Where are we again, Violet?"

"I can't remember what the town's called, I'm too tired to think properly," Violet yawned and rubbed her aching head, trying to remember the very fine details. "But we're looking for the _Peasant Hotel._"

"Can we stop somewhere to eat on the way? We haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."

"Sure Sunny," Violet smiled tiredly at her sister and set her down onto the platform. "Hold my hand."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello all you spunky peoples! I'm putting the second chapter up here now because the first one was short, and it wasn't very interesting, don't worry though, for those of you who like long chapters, there will be those, and it will get more interesting. I promise. C'mon, you trust me don't you? Have I ever let you down? (Gosh I hope not!) Anyway! On with the story!**

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**CHAPTER TWO**

"We'd like a room for three thanks."

"How many nights?"

"Indefinite, can we pay by the night?"

"Yes, it's twenty dollars a night per room, here's the key, and you're room thirteen on the second floor."

Violet paid the receptionist, it was a cheap hotel; the foyer had ugly blue wallpaper that was moldy, and peeling away in most places, there were two small armchairs in the corner that clashed perfectly with the walls: the fabric covering them was a dark mustard orange and they were well worn down. Violet couldn't see much besides the chairs and walls because the broken chandelier gave off an unnatural yellow glow that only seemed to light up the roof around it. It was definitely NOT the best hotel around, and even though Violet had become of age and inherited the Baudelaire fortune, she did not like to use lots of it, she feared it would be easier for enemies to track them if they spent copious amount of money.

Violet sighed as she turned to head up the stairs. They'd stopped at a fast-food restaurant on the way to the hotel, and having a full stomach made Violet all the more tired. She was halfway up the stairs when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and goose bumps ran down the smooth pale skin on her arms. She felt as if she…were being looked at, she had the eerie sensation that someone was staring at her---

Violet turned around, and saw the dark shape of a person turn quickly away from her outside the front window, and walk hastily away.

She froze.

Her heart was beating at a hundred miles an hour, and she felt lightheaded. _Surely they weren't being followed, not this quickly!_  
She forced her head to turn back up the stairs; Klaus and Sunny were ahead of her, _should I warn them? Should we leave right now?_  
Violet raced up the stairs and hurried her siblings into their room, shutting the door quickly behind them.

"What's the matter Violet?" Klaus looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Sunny looked scared.

Violet took a deep breath.  
"Um, nothing, I just-I'm really tired and I want to go to bed."

And with that, Violet flung herself down on the nearest of the three beds in the room, her heart still pounding furiously.  
_Calm down Violet, it's nothing to worry about, _she told herself: _just a person walking down the street._

_

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_

After a late night, and restless sleep Violet took her two siblings out for breakfast; the hotel food didn't look very appetizing, and Violet wanted to give her siblings a treat, so they went to the Pancake Parlor.

Violet and Klaus both ordered the pancakes with Fresh Strawberries, and Sunny had the Strawberry Chocolate Jubilee-both very tasty choices!

"Are we going to stay in that hotel long Violet?" Sunny Baudelaire scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. "It's horrible there."

"I hope not Sunny, I was planning to look for a place to stay today, maybe we can have something a little bit nicer than last time, I was thinking maybe about buying a house, instead of renting something"

Klaus swallowed a mouthful of strawberries, pancakes and ice cream, and breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Oh good! That old apartment was too uncomfortable, I couldn't concentrate on anything!"

"Well, we may as well get started early, so once we've finished here, we'll go house-hunting."

_Should we buy a house?_ Violet thought that it might be a bad idea, she had the money, but it was such a long process, and she didn't know if it would be easier for people to track her and her siblings.

_Was that man following us? Will he find us again?_

Violet suddenly had the same eerie sensation that someone was watching her, the same as the night before. She hugged her goose bumped arms tightly, and looked nervously around.  
She noticed someone out of the corner of her eye. _A man._ He was sitting in a far-away corner of the restaurant, reading _The Daily Punctilio._

She thought that she had seen him looking at her. _Maybe it's the man from last night. No Violet,_ _it's just your imagination, he wasn't looking at you, stop being so paranoid._ Violet started to turn back around, when the man laid down his newspaper and looked straight at her. He turned away quickly, but Violet caught a glimpse of his face; well, his _eyes_ from underneath his dark brimmed hat.

They were… they were… they _weren't_ menacing, they were… questioning… almost… enchanting.

"Violet are you ok?"

Violet snapped back into reality, out of her trance. Klaus was frowning at her.

"Huh? Yeah, I-I'm fine, it's just a bit cold in here." Violet gave her brother a reassuring-but fake-smile. "Come on, let's go."

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** A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will probably come in one weeks' time at the most : ) Oh! And rememer what I said about constructive critisism-it is greatly appreciated!**  



	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here is Chapter the third, yay! I hope you guys like it, and thanks so much for reviewing my preveous(sp?) chapters! **

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CHAPTER THREE**

"Violet! Klaus! Come and look at this one!"

Klaus grimaced, and walked over to the picture of a house that Sunny was looking at in the real estate store's window

"Don't say our real names too loud Sunshine!"

"Sorry."

Sunshine was the 'code name' the Klaus used for Sunny; the Baudelaires didn't want people to recognize them, and so they were careful when they used their real names in public.

"Which one is it?"

Sunny pointed to a small picture of a two-story house that was for sale.  
"That one: 'Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, study, fireplace, spacious living area and kitchen.'"

Violet and Klaus squinted at the picture.

"Wow!" Klaus looked up at Violet. "It's so cheap too!"

"Do you like it Violet?"

Violet looked down at her little sister, she was thinking hard. _Was this the right choice? Would anyone find them there?_ She hoped not.  
"It's perfect! Good find _'Sunshine!'_"

Sunny giggled; it was the first in a long time.

Klaus went inside the real estate building to ask about the house, Violet was about to follow him, when out of the corner of her eye she saw the same man that she'd had seen at breakfast She didn't freeze up; she wasn't scared of him and she didn't know why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was broad daylight and there were people everywhere. This time, he was leaning against a light post by the road, reading the same newspaper. Again, his mysterious eyes connected with Violet's, and disconnected a split second later.

"What are you looking at, Violet?" Sunny whispered.

_That's twice in one morning; I have to tell Klaus and Sunny._

"Um, nothing, let's go inside."

* * *

Violet did tell Klaus and Sunny, but not until the next morning. They'd bought the house yesterday-fast service-but they had to stay in the hotel until everything was finalized.

Klaus was the first to wake up; always was. He didn't want to wake Violet and Sunny, so he thought he would slip downstairs quietly and have breakfast at the hotel kitchen.

Unfortunately, or _fortunately_ depending on which way you are looking at it, the door to the room was very squeaky; it made a high-pitched, choking shriek and just as Klaus was about to step outside, he heard a very similar shriek.

"Klaus! Wait!"

He turned around to see a very distressed Violet sitting up in her bed-wide eyed, her long straight hair a mess.  
"Are you okay Violet?"

Violet took a deep breath, and calmed down.  
"Yes, I'm fine. But there's something I need to tell you-" She glanced sideways, "both of you-before you go anywhere."

Sunny had woken up when she heard Violet shrieking, she rubbed her eyes.  
"What's wrong?"

Violet sighed, and Klaus went over and sat down on Sunny's bed.  
"The first night we came here, as we were heading up to our hotel room, I thought I saw a person looking in through the window at me, and since then, I've seen him twice, both yesterday morning: at the Pancake Parlor, and at the street near the real estate building, all three times I thought that he was looking at me."

"What does he look like?" Sunny asked.

"Well, he's a little bit taller than me, and he probably has a slightly bigger build than Klaus. All three times that I've seen him, he's been wearing a dark brown coat, and a matching hat. Yesterday, he was wearing a dark sweater underneath his coat."

"How ironic." Klaus rolled his eyes playfully at the man's appearance, and then quickly became serious when he saw Sunny's terrified expression. "I don't think I've ever seen him before," Klaus scoured his memory "did you see his face?"

"Only his eyes…I didn't see what colour they were…or shape for that matter, but they didn't look…evil, they weren't full of menace like all of the other people…"

Sunny looked scared.  
"Do you think we're being followed? Already? Do we have to move again?"Her voice was shaky, and high-pitched.

Violet sighed, again.  
"No, I don't think so, I don't even think it's anything to be worried about, just be cautious. It doesn't look like one of Olaf's associates, but he might be new. So just… be alert, not alarmed. And Sunny, you're not to go anywhere on your own."

"Okay."

Sunny wasn't upset about that, she never needed to go anywhere alone, and she knew that it was dangerous for a five-year-old to do so. In fact, Sunny Baudelaire was quite intelligent for her age. She was an accomplished cook, and often made the most delicious meals for the Baudelaires. She could read well, even though she had never gone to school-they moved around far too much for that-Klaus and Violet had taught her, and they had taught her well.

They decided to have breakfast _together_, this time at the hotel, after that Klaus was going to take Sunny to the library for a lesson, and Violet was going to buy a few things for their new house, which they would be moving into the next week. _Well, _thought Violet with a smile, _the sign at the real estate agent _did_ say 'We're as fast as a Zyrtec!'_

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_**A/N: (In robot voice) TERMINATE CHAPTER THREE. If you don't get the 'fast as a zyrtec' thing, then you probably don't live in Australia, unless they have that ad in other countries as well...Oh well, I'm going to be annoying and remind you about two words, which are: Constructive criticism!**_  
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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here we are with chapter four! I hope y'all like it, I've been updating at random intervals because I've been busy and lazy, but what can you do?**

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**CHAPTER FOUR **

"See you later Violet. I'll meet you back at the hotel at three O'clock, okay?" Klaus gave his sister a hug. "Be careful."

"You too Klaus, see you then. Bye Sunny."

"Bye-bye."

Violet watched as Klaus took Sunny's hand, and walked inside the library,

It was a nice library. It was small, and it wasn't grand or fancy, but it was practical and cozy, the main things a library needed. Only once Violet lost sight of her siblings did she turn around and put her mind to different matters.

She pulled a ribbon out from her dress pocket, and started to tie up her hair.

'_Just because I'm not inventing, it doesn't mean that I don't need to think about buying furniture.'_

It was convenient that the Home Wares shop was just down the road from the library, Violet didn't have far to walk. _I may as well get started._

She stopped outside the shop. It was huge! Violet had been to other Home Wears shops, but not one as big as this. There was a big white sign atop the building, and in bold red letters it said: _All Housed Up._

Violet was thinking:_ It had better be practical and cozy like that library._

Unfortunately, the home wares store was _not_ practical and cozy.

It was cold, and the fluorescent lights in the roof hurt Violet's eyes. The stock in itself was quite nice; the furniture, and kitchenware and appliances, but everything was all over the place; chairs were at one side of the enormous warehouse, and tables were at the other, so Violet had to go on a hunt to find matching sets of chairs and tables and lounge-room suites. Even the appliances like ovens, dishwashers, and washing machines were scattered throughout the store. It would've been hard enough to find if Violet hadn't been distracted, she kept thinking of 'the mysterious man.' His eyes wouldn't stop popping into her brain; she couldn't stop picturing them, and thinking of the way they were…enquiring…captivating… It was a good thing that Violet had tied up her hair with her ribbon.

_Eventually_, Violet finished shopping, she'd ordered some things, and had other things put on lay-by, to collect the following week.  
She took a peek at her watch

_Gosh! This took a lot longer than I thought it would!_

Violet had agreed to meet Klaus and Sunny at the hotel at three O'clock, and now it was nearing five-thirty!  
There was no pay phone anywhere to be seen, and Violet couldn't remember the hotel number anyway! She was stressing now, it would take about an hour to walk back to the hotel, and by then it would be nearly _six_-thirty!  
There was an empty taxi waiting by the corner of the main road; it would take fifteen to twenty minutes to arrive back at the hotel by taxi, and Violet had plenty of money. She raced over, but to her dismay, there was no driver!  
Violet was frustrated, it was a freezing cold day, she'd had a strenuous shopping experience, she was already late, and now there was no taxi driver!

She wrapped her arms around her chilly body, and took in a deep breath. She looked down the road, and she could see a taxi coming slowly towards her, she unwrapped one of her arms and waved to it, whilst slowly stepping closer to the edge of the road. The taxi finally came to a stop right in front of Violet.  
She opened the back door and slid in, the leather seats were cold on her bare arms.

"So, where're you off to young lady?"

Violet shot a glance at the taxi driver uneasily; she didn't like to use taxis, because she never knew who she could trust these days, and she didn't trust anyone unless it was an extreme case.

"Uh, the Peasant Hotel."

"Ah yes, I know that place very well, not the best of hotels to stay in around here."

"We-I-uh, It was the cheapest place we could find"

"Money troubles eh?"

"Y-yes." Violet lied

"Yeah, I've had them before, but don't worry, your luck will change just like mine did, and if there's anything I can do to help, just say the word. So, what brings you to this old town?"

"Uh, family business."

There wasn't much conversation after that. Each person was left to their own thoughts.  
Violet looked at the taxi driver with curiosity, he was a middle-aged man, but the side of his face that she could see looked tired, and old.  
There was a friendly, but pain filled way about him, and Violet still didn't trust him, no; she probably never would even see him again, but she wasn't scared and anxious like she was when she first hopped into the taxi.

Not long after that, Violet caught a glimpse of the hotel at the end of the street, in no time the taxi pulled up in front of it.

"Here we are, the _Peasant Hotel_, that'll be forty dollars thanks."

Violet pulled her antique purse out of her dress pocket.

"Actually," The taxi driver started again, "Don't worry about it, this one's on me."

"No, I'll pay you."

"I insist, I'm always ready to help out a person in need, you'll need that money for something else, something more important."

"_I_ insist," Violet opened her purse and took out two twenty-dollar bills, as she did the taxi driver gave her a funny, frowning look.

"Right, money troubles."

Violet handed him the money, wondering why he'd made that last remark, but she couldn't ask him, because as soon as she stepped out of the car he zoomed away down the street.

Violet closed her purse, and then she did a double take and opened it again.

_It was full of cash._ She'd taken money out at the home wares shop-_a lot of it_-and now she'd just led an innocent taxi driver to believe that she was a poor girl, who was finding it hard to get by. He'd been extremely polite and kind, and she had lied to him.

Violet sighed, she was too tired to think about this right now, she just wanted to get back into the hotel with her brother and sister, have dinner, and then go to bed.  
She pushed open the hotel door and walked through the ugly foyer, up the stairs to the second floor, and stopped in front of room 13.  
She pulled her key out of her pocket and slid it into the rusty lock. The door slid open with its usual creaky scream, and Violet shut it behind her.

The thing about staying in a hotel where the rooms are small is that you can see everything in it; nothing escapes your eye.

Violet looked around, she could see the three beds with old, dark green blankets and their matching drawers, she could see the desk with the dusty green lamp, she could see the ugly fraying rug that stretched out before her feet in colors of gray, brown, orange and green, and she could see the empty suitcase standing in the corner on her left.

But there were two things that Violet couldn't see, two things that should've been in the room, and these were the two things that she needed most, the two things that she couldn't live without.

Klaus and Sunny were gone.

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Sooo...did you like it? I'll be updating chapter five sometime during my lifetime :) 


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sooooo sorry! It's taken me forever to update, but finally, here is chapter five! It's slightly longish, about the same lenght as chapter four, and not much happens, it's just story filling-in-ness, so I'll try and update chapter six as soon as possible! Anyway, here we go... **

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

Violet scoured the room, looking for something that would tell her where her brother and sister were, but she couldn't find anything, no note, and no indication of where they'd gone.  
Nothing.  
She raced back out of the room, the door opened with a horrifying screech. She ran down the stairs and came to a halt in front of the receptionists' desk; She wasn't there either.

Violet rang the bell furiously, over and over again, until the receptionist appeared.  
"Yes, yes, what do you want?"

"Where are my brother and sister?" Violet demanded, her voice rising with every word.

"Calm down Miss, who are your brother and sister?

Violet took the receptionists' advice and calmed down.

"My name is Jane Doe, and my brother and sister are Klau-I mean, John and Julie Doe. We checked into this hotel a few days ago. John is seventeen, tall, has dark hair, and wears glasses. Julie is five and has fair hair, usually tied up in a ribbon."

"I think I saw them, they came into the building at about quarter-to-three, and then left again at about five O'clock. They seemed worried about something."

"Do you have any idea where they went? Any idea at all?"

"No, sorry, I wasn't paying that close attention."

Violet sighed. She knew there was nothing else the receptionist could tell her. She turned without saying another word, and walked slowly back to her room. The door was still open, so she only had to put up with one loud creak as she closed it.

She sighed again as she sat down on her bed. She seemed to be sighing a lot lately; maybe that's what happens as you get older. She sat there wondering where Klaus and Sunny were, and opened the curtains because she could see the street below her window.

Violet knew that there was nothing she could do except wait.

So she waited.

* * *

Violet must've dozed off at some point, because the next thing she knew, she was being woken by that annoying, screeching door!

"Klaus! Sunny! Where've you been?"

Violet's siblings had just burst through the door panting. Violet jumped up off her bed, ran over to them and wrapped her arms around them.

"Violet, where have _you_ been? We went looking for you."

All three stood together for a minute more or so, and then slowly, they broke apart.

"Oh I'm so glad that you're both alright!" Violet's eyes were watering.

"_We're_ so glad that _you're_ alright!"

They gave each other more heartfelt hugs.

To the average person, it might seem that the Baudelaires were overreacting. Although if _you_ were running away from a notorious villain and his evil henchmen, you would be a little more than worried if your brother or sister went missing. If you found them again, you would be more than ecstatic; so much more that you would just want to stand there and hug your siblings, never letting them out of sight.

Little Sunny looked up at her big sister,  
"What happened Violet?"

"Yay" Said Klaus like a little kid. "I love story time!"

Violet rolled her eyes at her brother, but she smiled too.

"Well, I'd better start at the beginning." Violet walked over to her bed, picking up Sunny on the way. She sat Sunny down next to her on the bed, and then faced Klaus.

"It's not much of a story really. I went to the store to look at some furniture and appliances, I put some on lay-by, but the shop was so big and complicated that even a map wouldn't have helped. By the time I finished shopping, it was almost five-thirty! Gosh I was tired! I thought you two would already be worried, and it would take about an hour to walk back to the hotel, so I took a taxi. I feel bad though because I made the taxi driver believe that I was poor, and he was nice and encouraging, and then offered to pay for the fare himself, but I wouldn't let him, so I paid him. He must have seen all the money in my purse, and knew that I wasn't poor. I think he was hurt that I'd lied to him, and them he'd made a fool out of himself by trying to do something nice. When I got back here at about ten to six, you two had both disappeared, I think I made quite a scene trying to get information from the receptionist."

"Sounds like you had an eventful day." Klaus said.

"But not as eventful as ours! Tell her Klaus." Sunny's eyes were shining with excitement.

"Ok, let me think…we went to the library, it was a nice little library, although it needed a few more books if you ask me. Anyway, we started our lesson; we were doing poetry today. I found some books on Shakespeare's poetry, and I read some to Sunny, then I helped her understand what the poems meant; it was hard work, even for me! Then I let Sunny choose any poetry book from the library and she had to pick a poem from it and tell me what it meant. That's pretty much all."

Klaus gave Sunny a small smile a nodded at her.

"You'll never guess what happened next!" Sunny took over the story telling. "We got back to the hotel, and you weren't there yet, and when you didn't show up after two hours, we went looking for you. We walked around the block a bit, and then went to the library again in case you thought we were meeting you there. We walked inside and guess what? We think we saw that man Violet! He was talking to the librarian, who was dressed as if everything he wore-a flowered shirt, striped tie, tweed coat, and plaid slacks-had come from a rummage sale, except that the crease in his trousers was sharp and his shoes were shined. The librarian asked the man if he'd been good to his mother."

"Yes, it was very strange." Said Klaus, looking puzzled. "The librarian was dressed as if everything he wore-a flowered shirt, striped tie, tweed coat, and plaid slacks-had come from a rummage sale, except that the crease in his trousers was sharp and his shoes were shined. The man answered back to the librarian: "The question is, has she been good to me?"

Sunny and I hid around the corner until the man came out of the library again, carrying what looked like a large letter."

Sunny continued from there:

"It was a good thing that he turned left, because otherwise he would've bumped straight into Klaus and me. After that we ran half the way back to the hotel, and the receptionist told us that you were looking for us, and that you were distressed or something, so we ran upstairs to find you, and here we are!"

"Wow, you did have an eventful day! Are you sure it was the mysterious man that you saw?"

"Yes." Klaus said. "Violet, he fitted the description you gave us exactly, he was tall, with that coat and hat you were talking about, it had to be him, it had to be. I don't like it Violet, I think we all need to be extra careful, this man could be dangerous."

"Klaus is right." Sunny agreed.

"Well," Violet said, whilst standing up and stretching, "we can think about all this in the morning, I'm too exhausted to think right now."

As exhausted as Violet was, she still thought when she went to sleep that night. She thought about her shopping trip, and the taxi driver, and her siblings, but mostly, she thought about 'the mysterious man.'

She couldn't stop thinking about him, and worrying about him. On one hand, she wanted to protect her siblings, maybe they should leave town, get out of here. But on the other hand, they'd just bought a house, and furniture, and besides, Violet wasn't scared of the man. Sure there was caution to some extent, but she didn't feel the danger that her siblings did. _Should she trust her intuition, or theirs?_

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_**A/N: Sooo...did ya like it? Say hello to my buddies, constructive, and crisicism! Ah, i'm so annoying :P **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello there! I hope this chapter is a bit more...exciting? Anyways, here it is!**

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CHAPTER SIX **

Sunlight was streaming in the window through a little crack in the curtains. _Ahh, a warm day at last. _Violet lay snuggled in her blankets, watching little particles of dust float through the shaft of light, and then disappear into the shadows.

"Violet, can you do my hair?"

Violet forced her head around to look at her little sister and smiled. Sunny beamed back at her, she had a rather big mouth, but it fit her face perfectly, she had a pretty smile with straight teeth, and her light blue eyes were smiling along with her mouth. With the sunlight coming in through the curtains, lighting up Sunny's blond hair, Violet thought that she looked like a little angel.

"Of course," Violet replied

She sat up and Sunny sat down. She brushed Sunny's hair, it reminded Violet of older days, when her mother would do her hair for her. Sunny turned around when she had finished; she had one long braid in her hair, tied with a ribbon at the bottom.

She grinned at Violet again.

"Thanks!"

Violet admired her sister's bubbly personality. Even though she was quiet a lot of the time; there was something magical going on inside of her. Violet kissed the top of Sunny's head

"I love you," She said.

"I love you too."

Klaus came into the room.

"Good morning Violet," He said.

"Good morning,"

"How are you this _very fine day_?"

Violet laughed at Klaus's use of the VFD initials.

"I'm good thanks."

The Baudelaires had long ago given up trying to find the meaning of VFD. No one, it seemed had the time to tell them, whenever they were talking to 'noble' volunteers, they would just get: _'You'll find out when you're older' 'All in good time children' 'There are some things that you are better off not knowing'_ and so forth. These days, they made meanings for themselves, and laughed at them, they didn't want to have anything to do with the real VFD; it had caused so much trouble.

"Violet," Klaus said, "I thought that since today was Saturday, we could all do something fun, just have a nice, relaxing day. Maybe go out for lunch, or do a bit of shopping for ourselves. Whadda ya say?"

Violet thought for a fraction of a second.

"I think it's a great idea Klaus!"

"Well you'd better get up then, it's almost eleven O'clock!"

"Gosh! Have I slept in _that late_?"

"Yep."

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"Klaus!" Violet whispered, "There he is!"

The eldest Baudelaire pointed off into the distance.

"Over there, at the stall with the telescopes where we just came from?" Klaus asked.

"That's him."

The three Baudelaire orphans were at the Saturday market near the shopping centre. Earlier on in the day they'd bought some new clothes and had lunch, and now they were browsing through the market to see if they could find anything interesting.

Violet had bought a portable box of inventing tools, and a copy of an old book she used to have: _The Life of Nikola Tesla_, which she had lost two years ago.

Klaus bought one book on Chinese history, two books about growing difficult plants, and two novels about homeless children.

"What's the matter? Violet? Klaus?"

Sunny walked over to her two siblings, she had been nearby at a cooking stall, and had bought three cookbooks and some rare tropical fruits.

"It's that man Sunny, the one we saw the other day," Klaus said.

"The same one?"

"The very same."

The Baudelaires kept staring, until Klaus spoke again:

"I think we should hide, he coming this way."

Indeed he was. The mysterious man had finished whatever he was doing at the last stall, and was walking down towards the stall that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were standing near. They hid around the side of one stall until he passed by, and luckily, he didn't see them.

"Phew, that was close. Violet, what are you looking at?"

Violet was staring at the ground where the man had just walked past.

"He dropped something."

She ran over and picked it up; it was an opened envelope, with something inside it. "Hey!" she called, "Hey! You dropped this!" But the man was too far ahead to hear her. So she started running.

"Violet! Where are you going?"

"Come back!"

Klaus and Sunny took off after Violet; it was a wild goose chase:

_Turning left, left, right, left, right, right, right, straight ahead, turn around, cut through a stall, there she is! There she isn't._

Eventually, Klaus and Sunny lost her. They stopped, and stood panting for air.

"Klaus, what do we do?"

"We go back to the hotel, and we wait."

* * *

**A/N: I think I'm going to add chapter seven as well...**  



	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello, here is the penultimate chapter of part one, yay! I'll have to hurry and get writing part two! AHHHH! Part two may be a while coming yet... anyway, here you go!**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Violet chased the man through the market, from a distance of course, she didn't want to seem suspicious. She exercised her memory skills, by taking mental notes of everything the man did.

He talked to people at certain stalls, in a serious, formal, but friendly way. He bought a letter writing kit, and a notebook, and some black shoe-polish.

He left the market, and had a coffee at a small café. He bought three different newspapers from the café and poured over them thoroughly. Then he walked to the library and talked to the librarian, also in a serious, formal, but friendly manner.

He left the library, looked at the town map, and bent down to pet, and play with a stray dog.

He hailed a taxi, and was gone.

Violet was excited _this man couldn't be villainous_ he was quiet, and lonesome sure, but he didn't do anything incriminating, and just the way he lived daily life was friendly. She glanced at her watch _Aack! It's 7:30! Didn't I notice it getting dark? Of course not, the days are getting longer. _The next taxi that came, Violet hailed. Well, she jumped up and down, waving her arms high above her head shouting loudly "HEY! HEY! OVER HERE!"

Which is something Violet Baudelaire did very rarely.

The taxi pulled up close to the curb, Violet slid inside the taxi, panting and blurted out: "To the _Peasant Hotel_ please!"

"You again eh?"

Violet was puzzled; she looked towards the taxi driver. _It was the same taxi driver from the other day. _"I-uh, yeah."

"Peasant hotel again eh?"

"Yes."

Violet looked down nervously, and 'twiddled her thumbs.' The taxi driver pulled away from the curb, and started driving.

"Got enough money to pay?" The taxi driver asked with sarcasm.

"Y-yes."

"Well good for you!" Again, the taxi driver spoke sarcastically.

Violet was still looking down, feeling too awkward to say much. "I, I'm sorry, about-last time."

"Yeah, I reckon. Ya know, you'll be much better off in this cruel world if you don't lie to people around ya kid, I learnt that."

Violet was curious now "How did you learn that?" She said.

"You don't wanna know my past, and I don't wanna talk about it either."

"Oh."

Violet noticed that the taxi driver wasn't as warm any more. The last time she'd been in the taxi, he'd been friendly and inviting, now he seemed cold and harsh. But cold or warm, Violet was determined to get something out of this man. "I-uh, I know what you mean about his world being cruel."

"I doubt you do kid."

"Well, this time I'm not lying."

"Don't know how I can trust that."

"Then don't." Violet realised that she had become cold and harsh, just like the taxi driver. "I've had many troubles of my own, most of them caused by that 'noble' VFD…" Violet trailed off when she realized what she'd just said, but she noticed that the taxi driver had stiffened up at the mention of VFD.

"I uh, don't know what you're talking about," He said.

_Silence_

The taxi driver spoke again: "They caused my problems too. If you ask me, the world's better off without 'em: They started more fires than they put out."

Violet was surprised! The taxi driver knew about VFD! "I agree," She hesitated for a second. "Have you, by any chance, seen a man in this town who always walks alone, and wears a big dark coat?"

"Well, normally, that description would be too broad to go by, but in this town, where every body's obsessed with being surrounded by a mass of friends, you can't help but notice a loner."

"So you've seen him?"

"Yeah I have, you know 'im?"

"No, well, not exactly, I just see him everywhere."

"Yeah, he walks a lot, I even offered to give him a free lift once, late at night, but he said he preferred to walk, it made him feel safe, and at home."

"Oh, do you think he's dangerous?"

"Personally, I don't think so, but you can't be too trusting these days can you? It sounds like we've both had experiences involving mistrust and whatnot."

"Yes, we have."

Violet was silent until she arrived at the hotel, "Thanks for all your help."

"No problem kid."

Violet gave the taxi driver a large 'wad' of cash. "Keep the change," She said, and smiled.

The taxi driver just stared wide-eyed at the money, but Violet raced inside the ugly hotel, and raced up the stairs that lead to her room. Her heart was beating frantically and she had a strange sense of de-ja vu, she hoped against hope that Klaus and Sunny were there.

She burst inside the room.In her panic she might have missed her siblings if they hadn't jumped up and started shouting.

"Violet!"

"We thought you were never going to come back!"

"Where did you go?"

"What took you so long?"

Violet was out-of-breath so she didn't answer any of these questions, just stood there, panting.

"Violet." Klaus looked her in the eyes. "Be careful, stop disappearing! Curiosity killed the cat."

It was then that she realized that she still had the mysterious man's envelope that he'd lost! She stiffened up, and her eyes widened. She held up the envelope. Sunny and Klaus gasped. "Have you read it?" Sunny asked.

Violet just shook her head. Klaus took the envelope from Violet's hand as she sat down on her bed. He re-opened it and the letter fell out, he picked it up and started reading aloud:

"'_Dear K,_

_It is with deep regret that we must inform you that the whereabouts of your client's kindred are still currently unknown. Although my associates and I will continue searching, the outlook is dim, and in all honesty, we do not expect to find them. We have other matters to intend to, more important matters, especially with our depleted numbers. You and your client are encouraged to continue with your own research and are also encouraged to ask for our assistance in anything, but we cannot guarantee that help will always be available._

_Good luck K, you will need it._

_Someone You Know.'"_

Klaus folded the letter and put it back into the envelope before handing it to Violet. "What do you think it means Violet?"

Violet thought hard. "I don't know. Is that all there is?"

"Yeah," Klaus said.

Sunny reached out to take the envelope. "Wait," She turned it over. "There's something on the back:

'_To someone who's initial I will keep secret,_

_Alas, as you will find in this letter, they've had no luck finding your 'kindred.' I'm sorry to say that I've had no luck either, but I'm keeping my eyes and ears and brain more alert than a rock, if that rock was alive and more alert than a hunting eagle or lion._

_Onto… 'Other' matters, Of course I'd tell you if I knew where they were, they might still be on the run from the law, but I'm no law-enforcer as you may know by now, HA! The law is an ass! No, I don't know where they are, but I wouldn't mind seeing those three children, although Violet and Klaus could hardly be called children at their age._

_Never fear, K is here! (Don't you love that line?) I can promise that I will do my best to find everyone, rain or shine._

_With all due…something,_

_K.'"_

Sunny gave the envelope back to Violet, whose eyes were wider than they ever had been before.

Klaus's eyes were even wider that Violet's. "Violet, Who is that man you were following?"

"I-I honestly don't know…"

"Well it looks like he's trying to find us!" Sunny's voice went high-pitched; it always did that when she was nervous.

"Klaus, who do you suppose K is?" Violet just wanted answers.

"How should I know? It could even be a fake name; we have fake names. We live in a fake world with fake people and fake emotions. I'm sick of being fake! I'm sick of running away and looking behind me everywhere I go! I'm sick of this hotel! I'm sick of my past and my memories! I'm sick of never being able to rest! I'm sick of books and inventions and cooking! I'm sick of having no friends! I'm sick of moving! I'M SICK OF YOU TWO! I'M SICK OF THIS MYSTERIOUS MAN AND HIS MYSTERIOUS NOTES! I'M SICK OF EVERYTHING THIS STUPID DAMN WORLD HAS GIVEN ME! I HATE IT! I HATE MY LIFE!"

Klaus collapsed onto his bed and put his head in his hands. Violet and Sunny just stared at him, they were shocked; Klaus had never blown up like this! Never had he so suddenly and violently yelled at them! Sure they'd had their arguments over the years, but not like this.

Violet sat down beside her brother and put her arm around his shoulders. "Klaus-it'll be okay."

"No it wont, nothing ever is…" Klaus murmured quietly, he held up his red face. "I want to _live_ Violet, can't you see that? I want to travel the world, and see great mountains and cities, I want to write books, I want to have friends and a family of my own, and I can't have that. It's been taken away from me and I'll never get it back. I'm so sick and tired of running away and looking over my shoulder. Sick of hiding in the shadows."

"We all are Klaus, don't worry, things will change, they will get better."

"Well to me it seems they just got a whole lot worse! This man is looking for us! He could be dangerous, and we're going to have to run again."

"Maybe not. I don't think he's dangerous."

"Why?" Violet smiled at Sunny,who was in that stage where everything is met with: 'Why?'

"When I followed him today, he just seemed like a normal person, he wasn't nasty, he was nice to everyone he talked to, and he seemed to be well read." Violet didn't mention the taxi driver.

"What does that prove?"

"I don't know," Violet said, her voice filled with exasperation. "I just-let's wait a little longer to see what happens."

"What if what happens is bad?"

"It won't be, trust me Klaus, now let's all just forget this and go to sleep"

"Okay."

Violet tucked Sunny into bed, and went to talk to Klaus, who hadn't said a word since: 'Okay'. "Good-night Klaus."

"Good-night Violet… Hey, Violet?"

"Yeah?" Violet answered.

"I-I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean what I said, I'm not really sick of you and Sunny."

"That's okay Klaus, I feel like shouting sometimes too."

Violet hopped into bed, and was about to go to sleep when she remembered something Klaus had said before:

_'Curiosity killed the cat'_

"Klaus?" Violet heard Klaus turn over.

"Violet?"

"Cats have nine lives."

* * *

A/N: I really have nothing to say, so I don't know why I bother putting this here...Constructive critisim is still welcome...Last chapter coming soon...Part two will take some time to come, but hopefully not too much...hmmm...ramble ramble... : P 


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Ahhhh! So sorry, I haven't updated for ages! I've just been too busy and lazy, but here it is: hapter eight! I hopes yous likes its!**

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Not much happened during the next week or so, Sunny had some more lessons, Klaus bought some things for the new house, including surprises for Violet and Sunny, which were Some unusual gadgets for Violet to take apart and use in her inventions, and a set of kitchen utensils for Sunny.

They didn't see the mysterious man from the time Violet followed him, to the time the Baudelaires moved into their new house.

It was a nice house, it had everything the advertisement said it had: '_Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, fireplace, spacious living area and kitchen_'

But it had so much more.

There were actually two living rooms, one was rather small, but the other one was enormous! Klaus suggested turning the smaller living room into a study, but there already _was_ a study, so Sunny suggested turning the _real_ study into a guest bedroom. Violet and Klaus 'Okayed' that, even though they didn't expect to have many-or _any_-guests.

The gardens were beautiful, front, and back. The front garden had lots of red, and yellow, and orange flowers, but the back garden was so much more magical, there was a small stone courtyard, surrounded by red roses-not pink roses-with a low stone bench to sit on.

From the three-and-a-half foot high stone wall surrounding the courtyard, you could view the back yard, which was filled with tall, majestic pine trees, and the ground underneath the trees was soft with red-brown pine needles that had fallen in the winter over the years.

The three bedrooms were upstairs, along with one of the bathrooms, and everything else was downstairs.

Violet chose one of the rooms facing the back garden that she'd fallen in love with, Sunny chose the other. There was a small balcony that connected their two rooms together.

Klaus chose the room facing the street, he wasn't much for gardens, although he did like the back garden, but he wanted to face the street because it felt like he was in a lookout tower, and he wanted to protect his sisters.

Sunny made dinner on the first night they actually slept in their new house, after moving everything in, and buying a few last-minute house-warming gifts for themselves.

"A toast to our new house!"

Sunny loved doing toasts, she didn't drink wine though, none of the Baudelaires did, so they had wine glasses filled with apple cider, which was one of their favourites.

After they'd all finished their delicious dinner, they sat around the lit fireplace in silence thinking, and reading, and chewing mixed nuts-I think you can guess who was doing what.

Violet finished her thinking; "I'm going to bed now I think." She said to the reading Klaus, and the chewing-mixed-nuts Sunny.

She stood up and stretched her arms out wide. "Are you coming Sunny? Or are you going to go to bed later?"

"Umm…I'll come now."

"Okay."

Violet headed up the stairs with Sunny following her, "Night Klaus."

"Night Violet, night Sunny, have a good sleep!" Klaus smiled sleepily at his sisters.

"You too!" Sunny called back.

Violet and Sunny brushed their teeth in the bathroom together.

_Sunny is so adorable_ thought Violet. When Sunny brushed her teeth, she clenched them together and opened her mouth as wide as she could with closed teeth, as if she were smiling, then instead of moving her toothbrush, she would move her head side to side enthusiastically.

Violet tucked Sunny into bed, made up a short bedtime story, (which she was hopeless at, Klaus normally told Sunny's bedtime stories.) and then she went to bed herself.

* * *

"_What was that noise?"_

"_Nothing Violet."_

"_If there's nothing out there, then what was that noise?"_

Violet woke with a start, _what _was_ that noise?_

She didn't know if she'd really heard anything, but she thought she'd heard a sort of crashing sound. She peeked out of her curtains; it was still dark, probably about three O'clock in the morning.

_There it is again!_ Violet definitely heard it this time; it was coming from the side of the house, in between the front and back gardens.

Violet walked out of her room, whilst putting on her dressing gown. She tiptoed downstairs to the living room, which had a window facing the area that the noise had come from.

_There's nothing here._ Violet ignored her mind, and kept staring out of the window into the darkness until she saw it: _a moving shadow._

Her heart raced furiously, and she stood frozen for several seconds.

_Pull yourself together Violet! Do something!_

Violet listened to her mind now; she felt real danger, for her and her siblings. The shadow wasn't the shadow of a dog, or a possum. It was the shadow of a person.

Violet walked towards the front of the house slowly, grabbing the metal fire poker on the way. She slid her feet into her sturdy slippers by the door, took in a big breath, and walked outside silently.

It was so quiet. There was a cool breeze blowing, the moon was bright and covered by clouds, but Violet felt an eerie sensation that she hadn't felt in a while. She walked to the edge of the house at a snail's pace and stood there for a few moments.

Eventually, she poked her head around the corner, but she didn't see anything because her long hair fell in front of her face. She pulled her head back quickly, and pulled out a long dark maroon ribbon from her pajama pocket.

After she'd tied her hair back, she poked it around the corner again. _Still nothing._ She took her chances and stepped past the edge of the house and into the shadows of the trees. She stood there for a moment until something caught her eye; it was the shadow again! It ran from somewhere next to the house into the shadows not far from Violet. It stopped there. The shadow would've been completely invisible if Violet didn't have good eyesight, and if her eyes hadn't already adjusted to the darkness. She could see a figure crouched there, waiting, but Violet had already figured out what she was going to do.

She used up all her courage and took a deep breath, then she sprinted to the shadow, fuelled by adrenalin. Her heart was beating at a thousand miles an hour! Her legs were pumping, making hard thuds on the ground beneath her. She was almost at the shadow! Almost there! If she'd kept running at such a fast pace she would've tripped over her own feet! She snatched the shadow by the collar of its coat and pushed it against a tree, low down so that she was standing above it. She held the poker above her head, panting, as if she were about to strike. She watched the shadow flinch, and pull its hands up around its head instinctively and curl into a little ball.

"DON'T VIOLET!" It cried, "STOP!"

"Who are you?" Violet demanded angrily, "And how do you know my name?"

The shadow took its arms off its head and looked at Violet. _It was the mysterious man!_

"WHO ARE YOU, HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME, AND WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME?" Violet ordered furiously.

"I-I'm Quigley."

_What?_ Violet was shocked! This couldn't be him! Violet hesitated, and loosened her grip on the mysterious man who was claiming to be Quigley, she suddenly felt faint, and dizzy. _Violet! What are you doing?_ Violet regained her composure, and her grip of the mysterious man's coat.

"You're not Quigley!" Violet insisted. "You can't prove it!"

The mysterious man thought long and hard as Violet waited for an answer, still poised to strike with the fire-poker if she needed to defend herself.

"I first met you in a cave on Mount Fraught in the Mortmain Mountains. I helped you and your brother Klaus find the second-to-last safe place in the Valley of Four Drafts; it had been burned down. I climbed a frozen waterfall with you using an invention you made to rescue your sister Sunny, whilst Klaus stayed down below at the VFD headquarters to work on the Verbal Fridge Dialogue."

Violet looked at the mysterious man, "That doesn't prove anything! Anyone could know that!"

The mysterious man though again, he frowned as he thought.

He spoke slowly: "On the way up the waterfall that you and I climbed, we stopped for a rest and sat on a small ledge, barely the size of a sofa. I will not say what happened there, due to our promise never to speak it aloud."

Violet stood stock still, and stared at the man in front of her, her hand was still raised, gripping tightly to the poker. The man stared back at her.

Violet slowly lowered the fire poker, until her arm was resting beside her; she dropped the poker, which made a dull clang on the earth.

"Quigley. Quigley Quagmire?" Violet continued to stare in disbelief at the man; his dark and lonely eyes, his black hair peeking out from underneath his hat, "Why didn't you talk to us earlier?"

The man stood to his feet, and Violet let go of his coat, still staring in wonder.

"I will explain, but first, I think we got off on the wrong foot,"

The man brushed some dirt off his coat, and put out his hand for Violet to shake, "Hello Violet Baudelaire, I've missed you."

Violet looked at the outstretched hand, slowly held it, but then she suddenly drew the hand towards her, and pulled Quigley Quagmire into a long embrace. She felt his warmth surge through her, and felt his breath on the back of her neck.

"All these long years," She whispered, "How things change over the space of time."

Violet stood back and looked at Quigley, at his enchanting eyes. Then she took his hand, and led him slowly into the house.

**End of Part One: The Space of Time.**

**

* * *

****A/N: Yayness! Pert one is finished! Part two may be a while yet, I want to write most of it before I post it, then I can give you more regualr updates! But stay tuned for Part Two: The Space of !****  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry it's taken me so loooooooooooong! I've been far too busy with school and stuff, and most of you are lucky because you live in America and have summer holidays! Anyway, here is the first chapter of part two! Yayness! I hope you like it, and if you don't, then tell me so!

* * *

PART TWO: The Space Of Love.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT**

Quigley Quagmire gulped down his cup of steaming hot coffee. Violet Baudelaire watched him with a quiet curiosity from across the kitchen table. He'd changed so much, but he was still the same. He seemed lonely, and sad, yet he still had that playful, mysterious twinkle in his eyes. He still had the same black, unruly hair, and now he was about a foot taller than Violet; she used to be taller than him.

Something caught Violet's attention. It was just Klaus standing at the kitchen door, rubbing his eyes, trying to get used to the light.

"Violet, what're," Klaus Yawned, "What are you doing up so-"

Violet blinked wearily at Klaus as he stood in the doorway, dumbfounded. He pointed straight at Quigley's face. "Who's that?" Klaus looked at Violet, "Violet! That's the mysterious man! Why is he in our house?"

Quigley gave Klaus a cheeky smile, "I always was mysterious, wasn't I?"

Violet smiled, "Klaus, I'd like you to say hello to an old friend, an old _mysterious_ friend."

Klaus scratched his head in puzzlement, "What-I don't-who-what's going on?" He said.

Quigley stood up and held out his hand, "Hello Klaus, It's been what…four years since we met in the Mortmain Mountains?"

"No, it couldn't be," Said Klaus, more to himself than anyone else.

"Well, it is, it's me, Quigley."

Quigley's hand was still outstretched towards Klaus, who slowly took it, and shook it.

"I-" Klaus started, "I'll…go get Sunny."

Klaus left the kitchen, and Violet laughed, "I've never seen him so puzzled and bemused!"

"He's not very talkative is he?" Quigley asked.

"Not talkative! He just doesn't know what to say. But mind you don't talk about China. He's been researching China lately; it's his new craze, and he could talk for _hours!_"  
"Yeah…"

Quigley sat back down and looked into his empty mug, scrutinizing the dark brown dregs.

"Would you like another coffee?" Violet asked.

"No thank you, I'm fine."

Klaus walked back into the kitchen with Sunny following close behind him. "…Klaus, What are you talking about? Why are we in the kitchen?" Asked Sunny.

Quigley gasped as Sunny stepped out from behind Klaus, "Sunny you're so big now!"

Sunny let out a deafening shriek and hid behind Klaus.

Klaus calmed her down, "It's okay Sunny, shush, this is Quigley Quagmire, we've talked about him, do you remember?"  
Sunny stood in the kitchen, panting, eyes wild. Eventually, she calmed down, "I-No, yes, I don't know. I remember being on the mountain, and Violet coming to rescue me with someone, that's all."  
Klaus stared at Quigley, "You're Quigley!" He exclaimed, "You're really Quigley!" It hadn't hit him until now that this was actually Quigley Quagmire.

Violet looked at Klaus, "I think we've established the fact that this is Quigley Quagmire Klaus."

"I-I-I just-I-Uh..." Klaus stammered as he sat down, "We have a lot to catch up on."

Violet stood up and put the kettle on to make hot chocolate, she also pulled a box of Sunny's homemade cookies and put them on the table.  
"So, Quigley," Said Klaus, getting down to business, "You're _the mysterious man_, have you been following us?"

"Well, I've been living in this town since the start of the year, and I haven't been exactly following you, but one night I was at the train station where I work sometimes, and I saw three people that looked extremely familiar, so I sort of followed you to see where you were staying, and every time I saw you after that, I'd try to see your faces to see if I recognized them. Eventually I came to the conclusion that you were, in fact, the Baudelaires."

"Why are you here _now_?" Sunny asked.

"Haha, funny story that, curiosity got the better of me-unfortunately in the middle of the night-and I had to come and see this house, maybe I could find a way to contact you or something, I don't know, I did it in the heat of the moment. And after your sister here almost killed me," Violet rolled her eyes, and Quigley continued, "I told her who I was, and she brought me inside and gave me a coffee."

"And now," Violet said, "I'm giving you hot chocolate." She walked over to the kitchen table with a tray and four steaming mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows, and smiled to herself when she saw Sunny's eyes light up.

"So…" Quigley tried to make conversation, "What have you three been doing for the last four years?"

"Actually," Klaus answered, "You're about the most interesting thing that's happened. We move around a lot, trying to stay away from Olaf-he still follows us you know-and we give Sunny lessons most weekdays."

"Oh."

Sunny jumped out of her chair suddenly, "I remembered something!" She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving everyone thoroughly puzzled. They didn't speak until she came back, carrying something; _it was the letter._

Quigley's eyes widened, "I knew I lost it!"

Sunny handed it over, "You dropped it, and Violet followed you to give it back, she disappeared for a long time, we were scared."

Violet and Klaus looked at each other, "Who's K?" They asked simultaneously.

"K," Quigley started, "Do you remember Kit Snicket?" Klaus and Violet's eyes expanded, "I'll start from the start.

"I sill haven't found Isadora and Duncan, from the time they went up in that self-sustaining mobile home, no one's seen them. I'm still with VFD you see, because they're desperate for members, and they promised to help look for my siblings. And Kit's been helping too, to no avail. She's my VFD partner. Every member has to have a partner now; security in numbers or something, but you always have to be accountable to your partner."

"How _is_ Kit?" Violet asked genuinely.

"Actually, she's not too great. She was sad after Dewey died, she would cry sometimes at night, and mope around, that all changed when she had her baby though, she was happy again, although still sad that Dewey couldn't see his daughter grow up."

"So Kit had a girl?" Klaus asked, "What did she name her."

"Beatrice. It was after an old friend of Kit's who died a long time ago."

"How old is Beatrice?" Sunny, wanted to know, maybe they could meet, and play games together!

"She's dead," Everyone became silent, and Quigley hesitated, "Olaf murdered her on her fist birthday. Kit's never been the same. She's gone cold, nothing matters to her anymore, if you've read that letter, you might see that she's gone a bit crazy. I think the only thing that keeps her going is the hope of finding you three and my siblings. I'm her only friend now see, and she gets lonely, she just wants a friend and someone to talk to I think."

Everyone was silent. Violet, Klaus and Sunny thought back to their stay at Hotel Denouement, and the dreadful accident that killed Dewey Denouement. Every day since then the Baudelaires had carried around a horrible guilt knowing that they were partly responsible for Dewey's death. Violet picked up everyone's empty mugs and carried them to the sink; she stood facing down into the sink, looking into the dark depths of the plughole.

"Does-Does she, blame-us?" She asked.

"No," Replied Quigley, "She blames Olaf. She blames Olaf for everything. I don't think she will ever be satisfied until she kills him…or at least until he dies…"

Sunny yawned, long and slow.

"I think it's time for you to go back to bed Sunny," Said Klaus, standing up, "Come on. Good night Violet, Goodnight Quigley. I suppose I'll see you in the morning Quigley? You're more than welcome to stay."

"I think I might," Replied Quigley, "Thanks Klaus."

Sunny and Klaus left the kitchen, and went back upstairs to their rooms.

"I suppose you're tired too?" Violet asked Quigley, "I know I am."

"Yes actually, I _am_ quite tired."

"Well, come on, I'll show you the guest bedroom."

Violet turned off the kitchen light and led Quigley to the study-turned-guest bedroom on the first floor, "It's a good thing we listened to Sunny when she suggested we turn the small study into a guest bedroom, or you'd be on the couch. Is there anything you need?" Violet stopped at the doorway as Quigley entered the room.

"I think I'll be alright, thanks."

"Everyone will probably sleep in tomorrow, if you wake up before anyone else, feel free to help yourself to food and anything else you might need."

"Thanks for that, I really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome," Violet smiled, "Goodnight Quigley."

"Goodnight."

Violet turned to leave.

"Violet-?"

She turned back around.

"I've really missed you Violet."

Violet smiled, "I've missed you too."

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**A/N: I'll try and be as quick as I can with the next chapter, although I'm having a bit of writer's block... **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: AHH! Yay! I'm F-I-N-A-L-L-Y updating! First of all, sorry for taking so long. Second, sorry if this chapter is crapola, I hope you weren't expecting too much. Third, I'm on school holidays for two week, so I'm gonna try and write like mad!**

**Four, I hearby dedicate this chapter to Zavi, who is having a spaz-attack, and without who's constant persistence I never would've updated :P  
**

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**Chapter 2**12:00 '_It seems I'm sleeping in later each day!'_ Violet turned over in her cozy bed and faced the roof. '_I suppose I should get up now.'_ She could hear voices coming from the kitchen downstairs, so she hopped out of bed, pulled on her robe and slippers and went to the kitchen. 

'_Oh I forgot! Quigley's here!'_ Last night had seemed so surreal to Violet, but she knew it had happened because she could hear Quigley's voice wafting through the kitchen doorway.

"Glad you could join us Violet." Said Klaus, as soon as Violet stepped into the doorway.

"When did you all get up?"

"Quigley and I only just finished eating breakfast, Sunny's been up since about ten O'clock, so she tells us."

Sunny walked up to Violet holding a tray piled with food, "I wanted to make you bacon and eggs, but we didn't have any, so I made you some toast for breakfast."

Violet took the tray from Sunny's little hands and admired her handiwork.

The toast pieces had smiley faces made out of jam on them, and there was a small bowl of freshly made fruit salad.

"Thanks Sunny, this looks great!"

Sunny grinned and sat down at the table next to Klaus.

"So Violet," Quigley began, "How did you sleep?"

"I slept like butterfly, assuming that butterflies sleep deeply for long periods."

"Well that's good then."

"Yes. It is."

Everybody was silent

"So," Klaus started, "What are we all doing today?"

Klaus looked at Violet, Violet looked at Quigley, Quigley looked at Klaus, Klaus looked at Sunny, Sunny looked at Violet, Violet looked at Quigley again, Quigley looked back at Violet, and Violet looked back at Quigley, and then back at Klaus.

"I think we should all have a quiet catch-up day, that is, if you're not busy Quigley." She said.

"Not at all, I haven't had real a mission from VFD for a long time."

"What do you mean by 'real' mission?" Asked Sunny.

"I haven't had an official mission, they've asked me to do a few things here and there, but nothing they'd put on file."

"Oh."

"So, what do you do?" Asked Klaus.

"Well," Began Quigley, "Not much really, well, I do a lot of things but…basically I take a few normal jobs-like working at the ticket box at the train station-to get some money to live by, and then I look for my siblings; reading newspapers, going over old information, finding people who might know something, occasionally I'll have a lazy day and go for a walk, or visit Kit."

"Hey why don't we visit Kit today?" Sunny bubbled.

Nobody said anything.

"I suppose there's nothing stopping us." Said Quigley.

It had only been about four yeas since Violet had last seen her, but Kit's hair had turned gray, and her face was worn and tired.

"How nice to see you Quigley! And I see you've brought some visi--"

Kit stared with wild eyes, looking intently at each Baudelaire face.

"It--it can't--but how--where…"

"Hello Kit," Said Klaus, "It's good to see you again."

Kit just stood in the doorway, bewildered. After about ten seconds, she blinked her eyes and shook her head, "Come in, come in," She ushered, and stood aside to let Quigley and the Baudelaires in.

Kit lived in an old Victorian house that was quite large for just one person, and even though it was a huge mess, the house was nicely furnished with ornamental antiques that looked like they were worth a fortune.

Violet couldn't help but look survey the house and imagine Kit and Dewey as a happy couple, with their daughter running around the house. She couldn't help but imagine having long talks with Kit as Klaus and Dewey sat in the library, and as Sunny played with little Beatrice.

And she couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the thought that it was partly her fault things had turned out so bad, even if it was an accident.

"I was just about to make lunch, why don't you all join me?" Asked Kit.

"It would be our pleasure," replied Violet, who was finding the whole experience very strange, as normal as it was.

"Sit down, sit down, make yourselves at home," Said Kit as she led them all into the dining room right next to the kitchen.

The Baudelaires and Quigley sat in silence as Kit prepared their lunch in the room next door.

During lunch the Baudelaires filled Kit in on they'd been up to since they last saw her, and Kit listened intently along with Quigley, who'd already heard the story before.

After lunch was cleared, Kit, Quigley, and the Baudelaires made their way to a cozy little sitting room to talk some more.

"Well, you three have been up to a lot haven't you?" said Kit, "What have you been up to, Quigley my dear?"

"Oh not much really, same old, looking for Isadora and Duncan, doing odd jobs for VFD, running into the Baudelaires and almost getting murdered," Quigley winked at Violet who smiled and blushed, "What have you been up to Kit?"

Kit pushed the gray strands of hair out or her face and took in a deep breath, "Well, I have obviously been cleaning the house, as you can all clearly see," said Kit sarcastically, gesturing at the untidy state of her house which had not been properly cleaned for several months, "to be honest, I haven't really done _anything_ since I got back from China."

"You went to China?" Klaus's eyes widened, and he sat up straight, hoping for any skerrick of information on China.

"Why yes I did." Said Kit, surprised at Klaus's enthusiasm, "just last year, on a _secret_ VFD mission, even though VFD can hardly seen to keep things secret anymore, someone has infiltrated us, and no one seems to know who."

"Yes, it's quite puzzling," Quigley chimed in, "Everything VFD does seems to get to the people we don't want it to get to. It's even hard to keep information between Kit and I. That _infiltrator_ has cost us a lot."

"There you go Baudelaires," Kit said soberly, "after solving so many mysteries, here's another one to be solved, and after that another, and another."

Nobody said a word for a few moments as Kits words that she'd spoken in so serious a tone lingered in the air.

Klaus broke the silence, "So… How was China, Kit?"

Kit returned to her talkative self again, "Oh, China! China was beautiful, but, sometimes not so beautiful. Out in the rural areas, that's where it's beautiful, the scenery, and everything is so much more clean.

The towns though, are not always so pretty. Mostly because of the lack of money and hygiene."

Klaus looked at Kit attentively, hanging on to her every word.

Kit spoke again, "You seem very interested Klaus, perhaps you'd like to see my library? I have quite a few books on China."

"I'd love it!" Klaus was almost bursting out of his skin, he clearly was quite infatuated with China at that moment, and combining that with a library was unbearable.

"But before we do, I want to show Violet something," Said Kit, "Come on."

Kit hopped up from her chair and everybody followed her up the hall.

"It's not very exciting Violet," Kit apologized, "but I know that you were fond of mechanical devices, and that you were quite the inventor when I last saw you."

Kid stopped in front of a doorway, "This room is where I keep all the old junk I never use like mechanical devices and tools and lots of things that are good for inventing."

Quigley slowly pushed the door open into the room, "You never told me about this room before, Kit."

"Well, no, I didn't," Kit smiled at Violet, "I was keeping it in the hopes that I would see you one day, Violet, and I thought that if I ever saw you again, you might be in need of some materials for inventing."

Violet stepped through the doorway into the room as Quigley found the light switch. There _were_ mechanical devices _everywhere._ This part of Kit's house was as messy as the rest of it, but Violet didn't mind, she was too enthralled by all of the gadgets in the room.

"I'll leave you three here," Kit indicated Violet, Sunny, and Quigley, "Klaus and I'll go and explore the library."

Kit turned away from the doorway and led Klaus to another part of the house that held the library.

The silence between Violet, Sunny, and Quigley was awkward. Sunny didn't notice because she was preoccupied trying to figure out how a small metal box with all sorts of different buttons worked.

Violet and Quigley walked slowly through the room, sifting through some large piles of electrical wires, pieces of metal, old appliances, and other miscellaneous items.

"Violet?"

"Quigley?"

"…Found anything interesting?"

"A few things, but I've think I've got…inventor's block at the moment."

If Violet was honest with herself, she was slightly preoccupied as well. She was thinking about the night before, when Quigley had mentioned the time when they took a rest on an icy ledge in the Mortmain Mountains. She remembered first meeting Quigley, and blushing when he'd said he wanted to watch Violet at work instead of helping Klaus decode more mysteries.

She had the very same blushing feeling now.

They continued examining the various pieces of machinery in silence for a while.

"Violet?"

"Quigley?"

"…Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," Violet turned to face Quigley, "Go ahead."

Quigley smiled, then looked down at his hands, "Well, it's just, I—I was, thinking… about when we first met, and, about the time we climbed the frozen waterfall, and I couldn't help but wonder; where does that leave us?"

Violet could hear her heart beating, she'd been expecting, dreading, and looking forward to this moment, as uncomfortable as it was.

Now that the moment had finally arrived, she was dreading it.

She had no idea what to say, she didn't know the answer to Quigley's question, although she felt like she'd been affirming the answer to herself for four years. She glanced sideways at Sunny, who was still in a world of her own with the little metal box. She looked down at her feet, then turned her eyes back up to Quigley, who still had his head down.

"Quigley, I—" Violet faltered. The words wouldn't come out, "I—" Violet wanted to avoid answering the question, "I—"

Luckily for Violet, at that exact moment Klaus and Kit came walking into the doorway of the room speaking in hushed tones. Violet turned her attention to them, "What are you two being so secretive about?" She teased.

Klaus and Kit exchanged an odd look, before Kit said in an exasperated tone, "Violet, there comes a moment when all the cables, leads, battery chargers and power adaptors we have ever owned gather together and assemble themselves around us and ask us the terrible question: _What has happened to your life?'"_

"That was rather profound, Kit," Violet said in a rather profound tone herself."

"Thank you," Kit smiled cheekily, "I read it off a Leunig calendar. But seriously, this place is a mess!"

There was another one of those awkward silences that Violet Baudelaire was beginning to hate. Everyone could feel the tension in the air, and the silence was deafening after Kit's jesting voice had filled the room moments before. Klaus and Kit could tell there was something going on, just as Violet and Quigley could tell there was something going on. The only person who was oblivious to the discomfiture seemed to be Sunny, who was fiddling around with the little metal box.

She pushed a certain three buttons together, then pulled on a wire coming out of the box.

The box opened, and suddenly the room was filled with noise again.

After Sunny yelled "I got it open!" everyone looked to see the box. It was a little music box, there were three children made out of wood; two boys and a girl, that were dancing around in a circle.

The tune that filled the air seemed to be a well-known hymn of naval disaster, and one that was certainly not Violet's favourite tune.

"My least favourite song," she said triumphantly.

"No," said Kit, "That isn't the boat rowing song. This toy was made a long time ago, but the toy manufacturing company got the tune wrong. I don't know what could've happened, Lemony was supposed to fix it, but he never did."

"Who's Lenomy?" asked Sunny.

"_Lemony_," replied Kit, "he was my brother, and he's on the run from the law like you three, still innocent, but people aren't really focused on capturing the Baudelaires anymore, their attention is toward the Snickets.

Someone comes to my house almost everyday to question me."

Kit looked solemn, and no one spoke a word until she spoke again, "Anyway, it's getting close to dinner time, you Baudelaires had better get home before it's late."

Sunny put the toy back down and followed her older brother and Kit out of the room. Quigley followed Sunny, and held the door open as Violet passed through. Then he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

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**A/N: So...You like? You hate? You eat? I'm still liking constructive critisism, don't worry, I won't be offended if you hate it, just tell me whywhywhywhy? BYE BYEEEE! **


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: **-dies- I really have nothing to say, except "Look! I did something! Are you proud?"  
So, here is Chapter Eleven. Finally. Not long to go now. Thank you to anyone who is still with this story, it means a lot to me.  
I'm still wanting constructive criticism, too, so if you'd like to that'd be helpful!

Thanks. Really.

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It was a long time before anything interesting happened to all concerned. 

The days passed slowly, the Baudelaires now felt comfortable in this new town and they filled their slow-moving days with many things: Giving Sunny various lessons, visiting Kit, trips to the market, and an assortment of other activities.  
Quigley often came by for dinner and the four of them would talk long in to the night (sometimes excluding Sunny, who had an earlier bed time).The possibility of Quigley moving in to the spare room of the house had been a small topic of conversation, but Quigley had decided that he enjoyed and perhaps needed the solitude to which he had become accustomed.

As slow as the days did pass, Violet couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by all that had happened such a short time: moving towns, buying a house, being followed by a 'mysterious man' who turned out to be Quigley Quagmire, discovering the fate of Kit's child, Beatrice, and discovering Kit herself.

But mostly, Violet was overwhelmed by the fact that Quigley was there.

For years she had wondered what had become of him since they were torn apart that day in the Stricken Stream, and she had constantly revisited the memories of what had taken place between the two of them on Mount Fraught so long ago.She had imagined their reuniting to be much different than it had been.  
She had made up stories in her head of when they would meet again; she made up stories of reuniting with _all_ of the Quagmire triplets, of course, but it always came back to Quigley.  
In these stories for some reason she always imagined Quigley and the others as the children they were when they first met. Perhaps that is why Violet was always surprised at finding Quigley; she had not expected to find a man.  
And a man he was, far beyond his young age of eighteen, much the same as the Baudelaires being mature for their ages. It seems that being involved with VFD tragedies, or _any_ tragedies for that matter, makes a person age far more than they'd like to.

Still, the days continued to pass with an increasing easiness and warm tranquillity.

One particularly clear Saturday morning, the Baudelaire orphans were visiting the early morning market with Quigley. The marketplace was crowded with both buyers and sellers, buying and selling everything ranging from food and delicacies, to clothes and jewellery, to phonographs and cameras, and nearly every other item imaginable.

Violet and Quigley were standing at the front of a bookstall examining some heavy-bound encyclopaedias while waiting for Klaus to help Sunny pick out a book she wanted to buy.  
Violet picked up a smaller encyclopaedia and carefully stroked the soft leather cover with her fingertips and running over the gold lettering. She opened the book to one of the middles pages delicately, but just as she did so she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. Yes, she was in a market, there was movement everywhere; people walking and talking, buying and selling, people eating, undisciplined children throwing tantrums and desperate parents doing everything in their power to calm their child down.

But there was something different about this movement. Something Violet could not quite describe.  
The movement had been solitary and stealthy, there was something unnatural in it, yet so natural it seemed as if it must be some ancient animal taking care of the land. One thing Violet knew for certain was that the movement filled her with a horror she had not felt in a long time.

"Violet, what is it?" Quigley looked at her with a puzzled expression, and Violet realized that she had slammed the book she was holding shut when she had seen the movement, startling Quigley.  
Violet didn't answer him; instead she turned around and searched the crowds, trying to find the source of the movement. She tried. Tried and failed.  
"Violet?" Quigley sounded more serious this time; he knew something was wrong, and Violet knew there was no way she could shrug him off, though she tried anyway.  
"I thought I saw something," She said distractedly, still searching the crowd, "it was nothing."  
She turned back around to face Quigley and gave him a reassuring, but fake, smile, and tried to change the subject, "This encyclopaedia is very exquisite, look at the gold lettering…"  
Quigley didn't look at the encyclopaedia, and instead frowned at Violet.  
"Violet," he said slowly, detecting the horror in her actions a few seconds before, "what was it?"  
Violet sighed, "I'm not sure. I thought I saw something, something awful… someone awful."  
"Who?"  
"I–" Violet hesitated. She was about to answer Quigley's question when she caught the movement again, this time clearer, and closer.

She turned to face the evil and froze; there, facing her was a pair of eyes that she recognised in an instant. A pair of eyes that were as shiny as they were full of malice. A pair of eyes that were framed with one long eyebrow.

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End file.
